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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26660878">After All</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catikum/pseuds/Catikum'>Catikum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, No Beta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sad Toby Smith | Tubbo, Sad TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), So does Tommy, Temporary Character Death, Toby Smith | Tubbo Angst, Tubbo dies :(, Tubbo do need therapy tho, We do be making the angry british boy sad, love that tag, oopsies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:26:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,939</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26660878</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catikum/pseuds/Catikum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A sad ending to Numanum's fantastic fic Absolutely Anything For Them. Read that first, trust me its so worth it and it'll make this fic make sense.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo &amp; TommyInnit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>338</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Loss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26337250">Absolutely Anything For Them</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Numanum/pseuds/Numanum">Numanum</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tommy hated the quiet. Ever since Tubbo had left with the discs, Tommy's discs, the silence lingered like a dense fog, a deafening static curling in his brain like a dark cloud. </p>
<p>What made it worse was that not only his discs were gone, but no one would talk to him like Tubbo had. Even though L'manburg had finally reached peace, everyone was much to busy rebuilding the nation. Wilbur worked tirelessly on treaties and policies, doing his best to build a strong nation from the rubble left after the conflict, he had no time to talk to Tommy. Fundy and Eret were also occupied, fixing old monuments and building towering works of art, they were much to absorbed in such tasks to march about with Tommy.</p>
<p>So the boy was left alone to wonder about, snapping at any smp member he saw as he roamed. Lately his goal had been making his old foes' lives' as horrid as possible, going about causing any minor inconvenience and argument he could. </p>
<p>At least that was his goal until he saw how his traitor best friend reacted fo Tommy killing his bees. Tubbo looked at him with tear glossed eyes as if Tommy had stabbed him instead of the bee hive. His voice had wavered, as if he cracked once it would all come spilling out.</p>
<p>In all honesty, the response had left Tomny conflicted. On one side his stomach twisted with guilt and his heart swelled with the realization of how much he really missed his friend. On the other he felt some sort of sick satisfaction in seeing his friend shake and tear up, because now the other could feel exactly how Tommy felt. He laid in bed thinking about the interaction that night.</p>
<p>Tommy didn't see Tubbo after that.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Weeks later Tommy walked past the Dreamteam's temporary housing, Punz had told him that's where he thought Tubbo had been staying. Punz had also mentioned not seeing Tubbo around a lot either, which worried Tommy further.</p>
<p>No one was about as Tommy entered the barracks, they looked almost untouched, the door unlocked and torches all long cold. He pushed the door open carefully, its loud creak piercing into the boy's skull like an arrow to the eye.</p>
<p>Sunlight washed through the few small windows lining the hallways, the doors were labeled as Tommy walked past them, the floors dirty, the sun illuminating the dust particles, no one had been here for a week at least.</p>
<p>'Tubbo'</p>
<p>Tommy pushed the door open, the room bathed in pale yellow light from the singular window, dust hang thick in the air as Tommy took the sight in.</p>
<p>In the center of the room lay the remains of a bed, sloppily chopped in pieces by an axe. A singular red blanket lay strewn over the remains of a mattress, its wool filling spilled across the floor. The wooden frame was snapped nearly in half, oak splinters tossed carelessly across the floor.</p>
<p>Tommy's blood ran cold as he softly touched the sheets, his hand gliding carefully across the remains of his friend's bed.</p>
<p>The sight was eerily familiar, if not identical to what was left at Tubbo's house days after his betrayal. All splinters and torn sheets.</p>
<p>What a weak, breakable thing that tied them to life. Kept them from dipping into the endless void.</p>
<p>Tommy crouched by the wreckage, holding that thin, dusty red blanket close to his chest, because it was all that might be left of his best friend. He shuddered, curling in on himself as he sat, tears welling up in his eyes as he looked down the fabric clutched in his hands.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Multiple people requested a second chapter, so here you are I suppose. Featuring Tubbo returning.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stars littered an endless night sky, a field of glowing freckles across midnight cheeks, no clouds to cover the abyss, no trees or light pollution to mask its inky swirls. It was a heavenly sight no man could ever hope to behold, breathtaking to the point of suffocation. Marvelous to the point of madness. A creation no artist can ever compare to.</p>
<p>The sky might be a sight to behold, but it was as silent as it was beautiful. Even the loudest, most ear ringing sounds are met with the deaf shimmer of distant starlight, no hope for someone who was hopelessly trapped to call for help. No hope for Tubbo to call for help.</p>
<p>The second Tubbo had arrived in the void, just moments after his death, there was a moment of relief. He could no longer feel the sharp pain in his hands, sliced open and bloody, the stinging pain in his gut where a shining sword had ripped through his side. All that was left was his aching heart, of knowing he had truly and certainly been abandoned by everyone and everything.</p>
<p>He had cried the first few hours, eventually falling into a dreamless and unsatisfying sleep. He woke once more to the endless void, which he screamed at until his voice broke, left him to sit in the silence. His ears buzzed, desperately trying to catch noise that wasn't there as he helplessly floated through the abyss. </p>
<p>After a while, he had begun to not care, accepting his fate in this timeless, endless star filled sky. In a way it was the best feeling ever, to know what the future was to be, but in others it terrified him. His friends, his family had forgotten about him that easily? He distantly wondered if they had even found the ruins of his bed yet. He wanted to think that someone would have wondered where he was by now, but he began to doubt it. It's not like it mattered anymore, he was simply left here to float for all of time. </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Tommy had waited days for this moment, helped Dream gather some materials in order to prepare, had mentally readied himself. He was ready to see his best friend again. </p>
<p>Hours after he had discovered the carnage that was the remains of Tubbos bed, he and Wilbur had marched up to the Dreamsmp, demanding he explain himself. Dream had simply claimed he hadn’t known that Tubbo had his bed in L’manburg destroyed, saying that he’d bring back the younger as soon as possible. He had kept his word on the latter, but no one knew if it was true Dream hadn’t wanted Tubbo to be truly voided.</p>
<p>Regardless, here they stood, in a large open field surrounded by pine trees. Wilbur had come along with him and Dream, everyone else deciding to see Tubbo when he had adjusted to living again. Dream had mentioned the land as ‘spawn’ and said nothing more about it as he prepared, writing on scrolls and muttering to himself. Tommy didn’t know what he was doing, and in all honesty he didn’t care if it meant his friend would come back to him.</p>
<p>Moments later, Dream took a step back, opening his arms slightly as a bright light flashed from the book he had been writing in. Tommy covered his eyes with his hand, the light burning into his skull, leaving his vision dotted with white. </p>
<p>When he looked back up, he was met with both a familiar face and a broken one. Tubbo stood before him, shaking and looking around like an overwhelmed child, he was slightly taller, slightly thinner, his hair slightly longer, all things Tommy could easily look over. The one thing Tommy couldn’t look over, however, was the look in his eyes, as if he had been a long abandoned puppy, as if he had seen many a man slaughtered, the look of a man so hardened by death that he no longer feared it. A look that scared Tommy.</p>
<p>Tommy disregarded the fear however, pushing it deep within himself as he approached his friend with a small smile. He opened his arms easily, allowing Tubbo to fall in them, which he did quickly, shaking all the while.</p>
<p>“I missed you man” Tommy mumbled into the shorter’s hair, holding him as tight as possible.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>It took Tubbo a few days to get used to walking, and he still chose to avoid talking, learning his voice was scratchy and unused. He never really laughed much anymore, preferring to offer simple smiles. He also got overwhelmed often, all the things to look at, all the sounds, it was a little much for his brain to comprehend after all the time in the void.</p>
<p>Him and Tommy never really talked about Tubbo’s time in the void, partially because Tubbo didn't want to talk about it and partially because it made Tommy feel extremely guilty. It was concerning the first few nights when Tommy had awoken in the middle of the night to find Tubbo gone. He’d later find the other boy laying in the grass outside their house, staring into the endless sky blankly. Tommy simply sat next to him, holding his hand tight as if to remind him he was with him and not back in the skies above.</p>
<p>“I worry about him” Tommy would over-hear Wilbur saying to Niki in the late evenings.“He doesn’t talk or smile or even leave Tommy’s side… he just follows him around with this haunted look in his eyes.” </p>
<p>Tommy hadn’t told Tubbo about that, didn’t want to add any more weight to the recovery process. It was okay for Tubbo to follow him around; it was okay for him to not have to smile and talk constantly, as long as he was getting better. Even if it meant Tommy had to hold him together in his arms the days when the world seemed too much, the days when Tubbo would cry into his arms, clinging to him like a lifeline. He didn’t mind, as long as he had his best friend back. <br/>If Tommy was honest with himself, he couldn't stand being away from Tubbo anymore than Tubbo could handle being away from Tommy. Worry would swirl in his chest so violently he couldn’t breath the first few times he lost sight of Tubbo. What if his friend had gone back to the void? Left him once more? Would Tubbo come back even more broken, a shell with nothing left in it?</p>
<p>Those nights when Tommy dreamed of his friend returning, telling him that it was all his fault, were the worst. He’d wake up, drenched in sweat, desperately clutching at his chest as his lungs attempted to work, filled with guilt and regret instead of air. He’d choke down sobs, pulling at his own hair. It was made worse only when Tubbo woke up beside him, sleepily getting up to comfort his friend.</p>
<p>“Hey, hey it’s okay, we’re fine, everything’s fine,” Tubbo would say, hugging him close. Those nights were one of the few times Tommy heard him speak like he used to, even if the words were slightly wobbly and rough. Those nights he would cry into Tubbo’s shoulder, frantically apologising. </p>
<p>“It's okay, we’re okay,” Tubbo would remind him, comforting him until he calmed down and fell back asleep. He’d run his fingers through his hair, rubbing soothing circles on his back, mummering about how everything was going to be fine and how he forgave him, how he could never be mad at him. </p>
<p>They would sit at their bench, watching the sun set and listening to the music, simply being in each other's company.</p>
<p>“Do you think things will ever go back to normal?” Tommy would ask quietly, glancing at the other.</p>
<p>“No, but I think we’re gonna be just fine” Tubbo would reply back, smiling at his best friend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“After all, we have each other”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was written at around 1am on a Tuesday night so feel free to correct any mistakes. Comments Encouraged!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the first fic Im posting to Ao3 so wish me luck ig? All comments welcome :), Im thinking of doing multiple chapters for this, a hurt comfort typa vibe, so let me know if that's a good idea.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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